Built in 1907-1908, this steel through truss bridge over the Red River replaced an earlier structure at the same site and remains the oldest surviving bridge in Winnipeg. Conceptualized in August 1906 as a four-pier, 36-foot wide roadway, with two 6-foot wide sidewalks, the specifications would undergo changes prior to tendering, with city engineer Henry Ruttan playing a lead role. Site surveying was completed in November 1906 and the eastern approach to the bridge was donated by William Hespeler, where later the timber-reinforced ramp would be built at a cost of around $350. With no objections raised by a Dominion Government engineer during a bridge site visit on 10 January 1907, sub-structure work began under the contracting firm of Kelly & Sons of Kenora, Ontario. Work continued for three months before it was realized the project lacked the approval of the Federal Minister of Marine. With expenditures of over $10,000 on an unapproved project, construction was halted by the Board of Control. This early attempt also made no plans for how to combat the seasonal ice flows and failed to adequately accommodate river traffic, a concern voiced by steamboat operators and owners.

The bridge’s original piers had to be re-situated to meet a federal requirement for 100 feet between piers, thus abating interference concerns of routine watercraft travel. Once passed that hurdle, the new federally-approved plans redrawn by city engineers then drew flak from City Hall, which voiced concerns about weight distribution and safety. Design changes and necessary approvals now acquired, work resumed with the removal and rebuilding of pier #3 and #4. With four new and re-situated piers, the superstructure was built by the Dominion Bridge Company at a cost of around $88,000, not including an approved $14,315 buffer to allow for changes (including span length, equipment, machinery, and the reinforced concrete floor) since their original tender submission of 12 December 1906. The new structure allowed a river clearance of around 30 feet from the average high water line, though progress was delayed to mid-1908 on account of labour unrest. With concrete paving of the roadbed delayed to late October 1908 due to cold weather, a backup plan was hatched to lay a wooden floor over the roadbed, thus making it serviceable to general traffic within a month’s time. Work progressed into November, along with the paving of roads leading to the structure.

The entire length is comprised of two 150-foot spans, a shorter 98-foot span, and a central 250-foot swing span. Built with 700 tons of reinforced steel, it featured a 25-foot wide roadway flanked with six-foot wide sidewalks, and a mid-river swing span. Intended to be powered by electricity, a temporary 50-horsepower gasoline engine was settled on. To safeguard the structure again ice flows, an accompanying icebreaker was built prior to 1923. By 1947, it required an overhaul, having slowly been worn down over its year of service. It was again restored in 1979, at which time the restored protective measure was enlarged and reinforced further.

To control traffic during swing span operation, gates were purchased for $931 from the Railway Supply Company of Chicago and installed along the roadway. The bridge, originally targeted to open on 11 November 1908, was opened to road traffic on 12 January 1909, with some minor details still needing completion.

With the project’s completion, street car infrastructure was also added to, over, and from the bridge about two years after its opening. The pedestrian sidewalks would later be fully barricaded from the roadway following a coroner’s inquiry into the death of a young boy in August 1935. The gates at each end of the bridge have all been removed, with the bridge seeing numerous maintenance upgrades and improvements over the years, including a $8.1-million refit in 2006, which saw it closed for much of the year. The swing span was reportedly last used to permit ship passage in 1978, though it was tested for operational status as recent as 1985. Five years later, the city gave notice under the Navigable Waters Protection Act of its intention to remove this equipment, and the mechanisms and the overhead pilot cabin were removed.

Known for most of its life as the Redwood Bridge, it was renamed at a ceremony on 3 October 2014 in honour of long-time city councillor Harry Lazarenko.

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